Outlaw v. State

484 N.E.2d 10, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 998
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 25, 1985
Docket983S321
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 484 N.E.2d 10 (Outlaw v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Outlaw v. State, 484 N.E.2d 10, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 998 (Ind. 1985).

Opinion

PRENTICE, Justice.

Pursuant to Ind. Rules of Procedure, Post Conviction Rule 2 § 2, Defendant (Appellant) belatedly appeals his conviction of robbery a class A felony, Ind. Code § 35-42-5-1 (Burns Code Ed.1978 Supp.). He was convicted by a jury, and the trial court sentenced him to twenty (20) years imprisonment.

*12 Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions on three grounds:

1. He asserts that the victim's identification of him at trial was defective, claiming an unduly suggestive pre-trial photographic array and the absence of an independent basis for the identification.

2. He argues that the crime did not result in "bodily injury" as required by Ind.Code § 35-42-5-1 and defined by Ind. Code § 35-41-1-2 (Burns Code Ed.1978 Supp.)

3. Defendant also contends that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury on lesser included offenses.

We affirm.

The evidence favorable to the trial court's judgment reveals the following:

At approximately 7:30 p.m. on November 11, 1977, the victim, Rena Engle, had parked her car in the parking lot of a restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, had walked across the parking lot toward the front door of the restaurant and was standing on the sidewalk, when she heard a person running. As the sound became louder, Engle looked over her shoulder and saw a man, who was subsequently identified as the Defendant, running toward her. Engle began to run toward the restaurant door as the Defendant grabbed the strap of her shoulder purse. The resulting force spun her around and she fell onto her knees. The victim grabbed a partition and held onto her purse. Still attempting to retain possession of her purse, Engle released the partition and held the purse with both hands. Defendant continued to pull on the purse and, by doing so, dragged the victim along the sidewalk on her knees. Eventually, after further resistance and a demand from Defendant that she release the purse, Engle became more concerned for her safety than for the purse and released it. Defendant then fled the scene on foot.

Engle was injured during the robbery. Her knees were scraped and they bled. She had bruises on her legs, back and arms that were painful and sensitive to touch. The right arm was strained and she was unable to use it on the day after the robbery.

When police arrived at the scene Engle described her assailant as a black male, between five feet eight inches and five feet eleven inches tall with a "baby face." She also stated that he appeared to be in his early twenties and that he was wearing a beige leather jacket, dark pants and a brown knit hat with a folded bill. Subsequently, the Defendant was discovered to be five feet eight inches tall, to weigh 185 pounds and to be nineteen years old. The victim also gave the police a list of her possessions that were in the stolen purse. A "Bank Americard" was included among her missing possessions.

On February 8, 1978, the Fort Wayne police arrested Andrew Lee Craig on charges unrelated to this case. Craig had the victim's credit card in his possession, and he had made nine purchases with it. Craig told the police that he had gotten the card from his friend, the Defendant. At trial, Craig testified for the State.

As a result of Craig's arrest, the victim was shown a photographic array sometime after February 8, 1978. This display consisted of eight photographs. She did not make an identification, but she did select two photographs to complete another general description of her assailant. On February 6, 1978, the victim was shown a second array that consisted of seven photographs, including one of Defendant. Four pictures from the original display were also in the second display. The police told her that they had a suspect and that this suspect might be in the array. She identified the third picture as depicting her assailant, the Defendant. The police advised her to view all the photographs and she did so.

The photographs in the second display consist of seven pictures of black males with relatively short hair of various styles. Some of the men are clean shaven and some have facial hair. All are shown in both frontal and profile views. The men appear to be of relatively similar ages. *13 Their heights cannot be determined from the pictures. The Defendant's photograph varies slightly from the other photographs. His picture presents a frontal view and both profiles simultaneously because it was taken with the use of a mirror. Also the Defendant was depicted from the waist up; whereas the other photographs show the subjects from the mid-chest area.

ISSUE I

Defendant addresses alleged irregularities in the pre-trial photographic array at great length and in great detail. However, these issues are not properly before us. He did not challenge the array or the independent basis for the victim's identification either by a motion prior to trial or by objection during trial. These issues were initially raised in his motion to correct errors. Because of the Defendant's failure to properly raise the issues at trial, he may not raise them on appeal. Wilson v. State (1984), 465 N.E.2d 717, 720.

In any event, the issues are merit less. Our examination of the photographic array and the presentation of it has not revealed any undue suggestiveness. We have not found the disparities claimed by Defendant in age, build and height of the subjects photographed to be present. The police officer's statement to the victim, that the suspect's photograph might be in the array, did not draw undue attention to the Defendant. Given the totality of the circumstances surrounding the array, we find no error. Little v. State (1985), Ind. 475 N.E.2d 677, 681-683.

ISSUE II

The Defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his convietion because Engle did not suffer "bodily injury" as the term was defined by the robbery statute that was in effect when the charged offenses occurred. Defendant contends that Engle's injuries were minor and that her injuries were not the natural and probable consequence of his actions, but instead that they were caused by the victim's resistance.

Ind. Code § 85-42-5-1 defined robbery as follows:

"A person who knowingly or intentionally takes property from another person or from the presence of another person:
(1) By using or threatening the use of force on any person; or
(2) By putting any person in fear; commits robbery, a class C felony. However, the offense is a class B felony if it is committed while armed with a deadly weapon, and a class A felony if it results in either bodily injury or serious bodily injury to any other person. (Emphasis added.)

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Bluebook (online)
484 N.E.2d 10, 1985 Ind. LEXIS 998, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/outlaw-v-state-ind-1985.